Improvisation helps Eagles’ J&J connection soar

By SKIP LEON Herald Sports Editor

Published 2:02 pm, Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Photo: Skip Leon/Plainview Herald

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Plainview Christian Academy receiver Jared Masten celebrates one of his four touchdown receptions against Cotton Center last week. Masten caught five passes for 57 yards in the game and also recovered a fumble on defense. less

Plainview Christian Academy receiver Jared Masten celebrates one of his four touchdown receptions against Cotton Center last week. Masten caught five passes for 57 yards in the game and also recovered a fumble ... more

Photo: Skip Leon/Plainview Herald

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Photo: Skip Leon/Plainview Herald

Improvisation helps Eagles’ J&J connection soar

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If Plainview Christian Academy’s diminutive quarterback Josh Summers continues to scramble and make plays as he did in the team’s opening-night victory over Cotton Center, he may be in line for a new nickname — Joshua Football.

Summers, who stands all of 5-foot-5 and weighs in at 116 pounds, did his best Johnny Manziel impression Friday night. He extended plays and left Cotton Center’s much larger linemen clutching at air as he darted from sideline to sideline behind the line of scrimmage. And then he found receiver Jared Masten four times for touchdown passes in PCA’s 32-18 victory.

Trying to corral Summers was like trying to catch a rabbit for Cotton Center’s defenders, some of whom weighed twice as much as the Eagles’ quarterback. And if Summers darted about like a rabbit, the lanky, long-striding Masten ran with the swiftness of a gazelle to the end zone once he got the ball in his hands.

The duo will be looking for an encore when PCA plays its first home game of the season at 9 Saturday morning against Lubbock Home School.

Masten, 6-3 and 150 pounds, said he has never had a four-touchdown game before. In last year’s opener he scored three touchdowns, two on interception returns and one on a reception. He said when Summers begins scrambling, he’s just trying to get open for a possible pass.

“I was just trying to help him out so he doesn’t get sacked and we can get some yards,” Masten said. “I usually try to get open in the direction he’s running.”

Cotton Center did a good job of covering PCA’s Tanner Morton downfield. But with Summers engaging as many as three players with his scrambling, that left Masten alone.

“Tanner’s a little bit more athletic and has a more muscular build, so teams automatically flock to him as a player,” Summers said. “So, it leaves a little bit more room for Jared. Jared is a pretty tall person. He’s easy to spot on the field because he’s usually taller than the people covering him. He’s gotten very athletic when it comes to running and he’s gotten a lot stronger in the upper body, so he’s good at getting away from opponents. And he gets open a lot.”

On some of the touchdown passes, Masten was a safety valve to whom Summers dumped the ball off after avoiding the Elks’ linemen. And Masten did the rest.

“I was just looking at the end zone hoping I didn’t get tackled,” Masten said. “I wasn’t really looking for anyone. I was just running as fast as I could.”

On his end of the play, Summers said that as he’s scrambling he’s looking to get the ball to a teammate.

“I guess the first thing is to look for someone else on the field to make it their problem,” Summers quipped. “Let them do the work. I think the instinct to run away is pretty prominent as the situation progresses. The first instinct is to get away from any opponents. Then it’s to look to pass the ball.”

Summers said the first-game victory was important. But he noted that PCA won its first game last year and did not fare well after that.

“To be honest, I hope it doesn’t make us too overconfident in having our first victory,” Summers said. “We had the same situation last year of winning our first game and it really laid us back a little bit and we didn’t focus on what came next because we were a little bit too prideful. So, hopefully it makes us confident about what is coming ahead, but doesn’t put us on cloud nine.”

Masten said the opening-game victory should send a message to the Eagles’ future foes.

“I think it lets everyone know we’re not just a team you can run over this year,” Masten said. “We’re out here and we’re reaching for something as a team and we’re going to go out and win as a team together.”